Malaga commuter rail three-day strike begins today: operator advises using other means of transport

Malaga province is preparing for three consecutive days of strikes in the rail sector starting today (Tuesday 10 November). State rail operator Renfe has warned of a "particularly difficult week", given that the strikes called for 10, 11 and 12 November come on top of a previous week of chaos, cancellations and ongoing disruptions on the commuter rail network.

The strike begins with a work stoppage by Semaf (Spanish union of railway drivers). It continues on Wednesday, which is when the nationwide general strike is taking place, and concludes on Thursday, with another Semaf strike.

The drivers' demands stem from their belief that the Ministry of Transport has failed to implement the required safety measures. These demands originated after the serious accident in Adamuz and have intensified following the Urda tragedy.

Cercanías Málaga had warned that the disruptions could begin to affect the last trains this Monday and Renfe even openly recommended that users look for alternative means of transport.

The Ministry of Transport has established minimum services to guarantee Renfe's operations over the three days. Commuter rail services will operate at 75 per cent capacity during peak hours (6am to 9am, 1.30pm to 3.30pm and 6.30pm to 8.30pm) and at 50 per cent capacity during the rest of the day.

High-speed and long-distance trains will operate at 72 per cent of their regular schedule. In this case, Malaga is not affected, as the line closure following the Urda accident leaves the Costa del Sol capital without high-speed rail service.

Medium-distance routes will operate at an average capacity of 65 per cent. In this case, connections between Malaga and Seville, Cordoba and Granada will feel the reduction.

Freight transport will be the most restricted segment, operating at 20 per cent of the planned volume.

Renfe advises passengers to check the status of train services through official information and customer service channels.

The start of these protests comes after a disastrous run of disruptions to the Malaga rail service. Over the past week, incidents on the network have exceeded 150, severely impacting transport on a key infrastructure that transported more than 17 million passengers in its record year.

This Monday, 9 November, the network experienced another critical day before the official start of the strikes. On line C1, between Málaga Centro Alameda and Fuengirola, the 10.30am and 10.50am departures from the city were consecutively suspended (with passengers rerouted to the 10.50am and 11.10am trains), as well as the 11.20am and 11.40am departures from Fuengirola (relocated to the 11.40am and 12pm trains).

On line C2 to Álora, the 11.40am and 12.40pm departures from Malaga were delayed by 15 minutes, while in the afternoon the 5.20pm departure from Fuengirola was 20 minutes late as it passed through El Pinillo.

Renfe said that the disruptions this Monday were mainly due to two factors: the unavailability of a train that remains in the workshop following a breakdown and the difficulties in reorganising the service due to the refusal of some train drivers to accept changes in their planned schedules, which the company described as a lack of cooperation in the provision of the service.

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